Write Your History This Year

Perhaps you’ve had that nagging feeling that you need to record your own or your parents’ stories before it’s too late. For whatever reason, you haven’t done it yet, and the monkey keeps riding on your back.

Periodically I have people tell me of friends or family members who died before they recorded their histories. Too often we don’t value the life stories enough while someone is still present. It’s only when they are ill and incapacitated, or deceased, and the stories are lost forever, that they are properly valued. Then the survivors treasure anything that connects them to their departed loved one.

As you contemplate the things you are going to accomplish this year, why not determine to write your history so far? Here are some ways to get the job done.



Set aside a regular time to work on it. As with most important-but-not-urgent tasks, if you don’t set time in your schedule, difficult or daunting tasks get pushed back, until they are often neglected altogether. Don’t let that happen to your story.

Have a plan. If you decide to go from your birth to now, you’ll likely be overwhelmed. Don’t let this be one of those new year’s resolutions that dies before the end of January. If you write about one year of your life each week, you could be done in just over a year. Another way to approach the project is to write about phases of your life: childhood, career, raising your children, etc. Or perhaps answer a different question each week. There are many lists of questions available online.

Use different media. If writing is hard for you, tell your story into a recorder and then transcribe it. However, it’s often easier to talk to somebody else and record the conversation, rather than talking directly to the recorder. You could also use a video camera.

Hire a professional to do it for you. If you’re too busy or the thought of writing makes you uncomfortable, there are professional writers for hire who specialize in life histories. They can interview you, transcribe the recordings, organize it into chapters and print and bind the final book (or any single step you need). There is a varied spread of skill, approach, and cost, so interview the prospective writer, look at samples of their writing, understand their process and method, and make sure they can provide you a package to fit your budget.

Whatever your course of action, decide once and for all to get the monkey off your back for good.